Japan and the US have pledged to work together to implement UN sanctions on North Korea, the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said. She was speaking in Tokyo on the first leg of an Asian tour to rally support for enforcing the sanctions. Ms Rice also reaffirmed the US's commitment to defend Japan if necessary in the light of North Korea's nuclear weapons test last week. Pyongyang's test has raised concerns over an arms race in the region. Ms Rice's hastily arranged trip to Japan, South Korea, China and Russia is aimed at rallying support to implement sanctions fully in line with the UN resolution passed last week. South Korea, and to a greater extent China, are still thought to have concerns over some parts of the new UN sanctions. Ms Rice said she and the Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso had pledged " to work together and with other states for the swift implementation and the effective implementation of all of the measures that are contemplated under resolution 1718." ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Rival groups battled each other at the entrance to a new mausoleum for Juan Domingo Peron on Tuesday as a motorized caravan bearing the Argentine strongman's remains approached, marring plans for a lavish reburial ceremony. As Peron's cortege traveled from downtown Buenos Aires to the new mausoleum at his former weekend estate, thousands of weeping admirers tossed carnations and confetti. The crowd, which had been walking alongside the caravan, scattered and at least two men were seen bleeding after the burst of violence. Scores of riot police swarmed the estate, repulsing groups of attackers with bursts of rubber bullets and tear gas. The independent television network TodosNoticias showed one man with what appeared to be a handgun in the small group of men. Some men outside the estate, shirtless, unleashed a fusillade of rocks and sticks against the stout wooden entrance gate. The violence lasted several minutes before groups inside put ladders up against the ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/17/ap/world/mainD8KQJJ8G0.shtml

South African officials hinted on Tuesday the government may broaden land seizures in order to boost black land ownership but denied that it was considering any Zimbabwe-style land grabs."Where circumstances require the state to expropriate for land redistribution it will do so," the Land Affairs department said in a statement.Thus far expropriation has only been used in cases of land restitution -- where the government seeks to buy back white-owned land that was taken from blacks under apartheid, and where landowners and officials fail to agree on a price for the government to purchase it.But the department, in a response to questions from Reuters, said land reform apart from restitution also included redistribution and tenure." ... Expropriation cannot be confined to land restitution which is but one element of land reform," it added, citing the constitution....http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/10/17/safrica.land.reut/index.html?section=cnn_world

A gasoline tanker ship belonging to Mexico's national oil company exploded Tuesday after a spark came into contact with fuel at a port in the gulf state of Veracruz, officials said. At least eight people were killed and nine injured.Authorities evacuated 400 workers from Petroleos Mexicanos' Pajarito marine terminal in the city of Coatzacoalcos, company spokesman David Lartundo and civil protection official Daniel Martinez told The Associated Press.Lartundo told reporters at the scene that the explosion occurred while the ship was unloading gasoline. He said a spark from welding work on one of the tanker's cranes came into contact with the gasoline and caused the blast. He said the ship was still on fire Tuesday afternoon.In a news release, Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said the ship was empty of fuel and out of service at the time of the explosion, but that a spark produced by repair work on the crane came into contact with residual gasoline left in the tanker....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,221797,00.html

For months, politicians and activists have been saying that the low prices at the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, come at a tremendous cost to its low-paid employees. They point to lawsuits that contend the company discriminates against women and forces low-paid employees to work through lunch breaks and after their shifts, without extra compensation. Wal-Mart has also been boosting its political contributions to stop initiatives aimed at forcing the retailer to raise pay and benefits. Now, as Wal-Mart rolls out a new round of workplace restrictions, employees at a Wal-Mart Super Center in Hialeah Gardens, Fla., are taking matters into their own hands. On Oct. 16, workers on the morning shift walked out in protest against the new policies and rallied outside the store, shouting "We want justice" and criticizing the company's recent policies as "inhuman." Workers said the number of participants was about 200, or nearly all of the people on the shift. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15305178/

North Korea may be preparing to conduct a second nuclear test, a U.S. official with access to intelligence information said Tuesday.The official says that activity at a second nuclear site in North Korea is looking very similar to activity seen at another site just before the October 9 nuclear test.The official said buildings and other structures are being fabricated at this second site, possibly in an effort to hide activities from spy satellites. "It would not be unreasonable to assume the North Koreans are planning a second test," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Tuesday.The intelligence official said there were also reports of statements from senior North Korean military officials saying that the government intended to conduct multiple tests.Activity was also being seen at the site of the confirmed nuclear test, the official said. It is not clear if that activity is cleanup, maintenance or just wrapping up the testing there...http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/17/nkorea.sanctions/index.html?section=cnn_world